[adel34]

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in posting, I tried to do this last night and our stupid wireless internet kept crashing and then I was just too tired from the day to keep trying.
It was really good though, the best experience with mental health people here so far. I was treated how I feel I should have been all along but haven't here in Chicago, like people truly care and genuinely want to be helpful and aren't so strict about insurance limits.
The one thing that's hard about this place is getting there. It's in a suburb of Chicago, and so takes about an hour to get there, with a transfer at some point between two disability transportation vans. So just a long ride.
I got there at around 8:30, and spoke for a few minutes with the intake coordinator who is really nice. She's only been at her job a month I guess but seems very confident and friendly.
Then I went and sat in on morning meeting where the staff and other members (what they call clients) welcomed me. So much for my worry about them being unfriendly towards visitors. I guess this meeting is where they welcome you.
After the very short, (because they got a late start) meeting I talked more with the intake coordinator and two interns about the program.
It's based on a clubhouse model, which is why the clients are called members. It's very flexible in that you don't have to attend everyday or even every group. Everyone meets with a case manager and comes up with a recovery plan and figures out which groups would help them the best.
The groups change every quarter, and a quarter is three months.
Groups for this next quarter include: Music, journaling, movement, and art group. CBT/dbt group, w wellness management, WRAP, health, meds 101, anger management, stress relief, and member lead groups. There are also groups that go out into the community, such as natural supports, and public transportation. Also they have open support, and men's and women's support. I'm probably forgeting something too1! I was impressed with the selection they have.
In adition to meeting with the case manager, they also have what I'm told is a very good psychiatrist on staff. This makes me very happy as I don't trust the one who comes to my facility as I've said. Also they have an employment program with employment specialists to help you with getting a job, and a housing program although thankfully that's all set for now!
What I liked about this meeting was that the intake coordinator didn't push me to talk about my diagnosis and issues right away. At some point towards the end of the meeting she asked if I felt comfortable sharing about my diagnosis, and I said yes. I shared as much as I was comfortable with, and even pushed myself a little to say that I self-injure by scratching and did they have a group for that. They said the skills learned in wellness groups can help with that, and seemed interested in starting a self-harmtopic group if that's something that would be helpful.
The best news? The intake coordinator said that if I wanted to I could startbefore I get my medicade card! I haven't heard that from anyone ever here. That made me very happy.
I sat in on two groups, relationships and anger management. I liked the facilitators of both groups, and got something out of each.
Now I just have to decide if I want to take that long ride everyday. I wanted to continue to look at other programs that are closer to the facility I live at, so that I could have a choice, and also because of the distance. However, I called one of those programs when I got home, and the person on the phone was so not inthused about helping me. The first thing she asked was if I had insurance and when I said I'm in the process of getting medicade I swear she wanted to hang up on me! I was trying to ask her if I could visit their program, to just get information as I've done this with another program, and she interrupted me to tell me I could go to their drop in center to socialize but only if I talked to some other guy who was off for the day. To me, drop in center means, "drop in" as in you don't need an intake, but whatever. So I think that place is out.
There's one more place that is specifically for people with disabilitys, and this might be helpful as there might be others who are blind there. Not that that's a huge factor. I felt like everyone there yesterday was so accomidating to my blindness. So we'll see. If other places are just going to be so inflexible as to not even give me information or a chance to visit before I have my card, I'm just gonna go for this one. It'll mean I won't be on here as much, but when I am I'll have lots to talk about!

[unaluna]

that sounds pretty awesome. so many programs! good on you just for getting out and about in this heat.

[Perna]

That one you visited sounds like a keeper. Is this a long-term program or only a couple weeks? Maybe you could get materials to work with on the long drive? I use to listen to self-help material in my car driving to/from work (only half an hour each way) and liked that my therapy was a couple hours away so I had time to think before/after (but that was only once a week).

[kiki86]

wow i'm really impressed with it. it sounds so good. it might be worth the long drive? how long is the journey?

[anilam]

I'm so happy for you. They do sound really good. I'd give it a try.

You can read a book (I can't read while on a bus/car- get sick- so I listen to one), watch a video, listen to music...you get my point. One hour's not that long.

[adel34]

Hi Guys,
Yeah, I agree with you, it was wonderful!
I did have my braillenote, and ipod to use during the car ride. It was just really annoying doing the transfer from one van to another. We were supposed to transfer at like one, and we got to the transfer point at 12:15, and so had to wait, that felt like the longest part.
I think it's about an hour to an hour and a half each way with the transfer stuff.
Along the lines of their flexible model, you can attend the program for as long as you want. Some members have been going for years. As I said, the groups change every quarter ( three months) but people have been known to start in the middle of a quarter which is why I'm not worried about not starting next week.
I may give that other program like a week or so to get back to me and try to get information on it. But if they turn out to not want to give me information or whatever I'll probably just go for this one as soon as possible! So glad that they're here.
The other thing I wanted to ask your oppinion on was if you think I should get a therapist in adition to doing the program. I'm not sure what other members have done. We do so many groups everyday that I may not need it. On the other hand, much of it is skill building groups, and I'm used to doing psychodynamic/relational work individually and so might miss having that person who can see the whole picture and process stuff in depth. What do you guys think?

[kiki86]

why don't you just see how it goes. like you say with so many groups you might not feel the need for an individual T but if you're there for a while and you find you still miss it you can look into it then.